A Saviour At Last (Hawksilver/Marvel AU)

19

Clint watched with a fond smile, shaking his head as he watched the Sokovian run off into the hustle and bustle of late Christmas shoppers and exploring families. Once he was out of sight, Clint turned on his heel and wandered off in the opposite direction; he had important business to attend to.

Pietro couldn't stop smiling as he wandered through the stalls. Christmas had always felt like such a distant experience for him; his family never really celebrated the way Pietro saw on TV, and their celebrations often led to arguments or disagreements with the stress of presents, food and decorations. It was never any fun. 

But this year things changed and he planned on appreciating and living every special little moment. The sooner they finished their shopper, the sooner Pietro could have fun experiencing the Christmas market with the man he cared about. 

The pudding ingredients were easy. The employees were delightful and helped him with everything on his list. They even offered some substitutes that would make the pudding taste better. Pietro listened intently and ended up leaving with all of his ingredients as well as a new cookbook. He would never admit how poor his self-restraint is, but it was definitely lacking. He thanked the shop workers, leaving a small tip to the nice woman who picked out the cookbook and headed off to find Nat's whiskey. 

The whiskey was a little trickier. The person who handled the old liquor store was nice, but Pietro knew nothing about fine Russian drink. Food, maybe. Alcohol, not so much. He had forgotten the name of the brand and ended up going with one of the more expensive bottles after being ID'ed twice, 'just to be on the safe side'.

Clint left the store with Bucky's book tucked neatly away in his bag. Peter's new science kit sat underneath while Pietro's special present sat in its own bag, hidden from prying eyes. With a glance at his phone screen, he realised he had plenty of time to spare unless Pietro came back early. Clint made his to the meeting point and glanced around, unable to find a familiar head of silver. A hum rumbles at the back of his throat as he glances around at the food stalls before a smile creeps over his lips. 

When Pietro comes back to the meeting point, flustered from rushing back after his kerfuffle in the liquor store, he stares at Clint sat down on a wiped-down bench. He wanders off, huffing a small breath as he adjusts the bag in his cold hand. His gloves only did so much to defend against the nipping air. 

"Sorry. I ran a little later than I thought I would." He excused, sitting down on the clean patch next to his boyfriend. Clint smiled and shrugged. 

"Hey, no problem. Here." He held out his hand, offering a drinks tray in which sat two paper cups with lids leaking steam like little chimnies. "It's eggnog. I was going to get you a hot chocolate but I figured we had that at home. I realised you probably haven't tried it yet, so uh... Yeah," He chuckled. "It's nice. At the very least it'll warm you up a little." He was rambling but Pietro only giggled and shook his head. 

"Thank you," With a quick peck to Clint's cheek, Pietro took the drink from its cardboard holder and sighed blissfully as the warmth from his cup seeped through the wool of his gloves. "I've always wanted to try eggnog." He lifted the drink to his nose, sniffing gently before blowing through the small hole in the lid and taking a cautious sip. A shiver ran down his spine as the warmth spread through his body. 

Clint smiled and tapped Pietro's cup with his own in a 'cheers' like gesture. "I'm glad you like it." He took a sip of his own, relaxing contentedly as he began to warm-up. "So, I was thinking since we have some hours to spare, we could have a look around the stalls? There's a Christmas market set up outside of town with an ice rink and some gaming stalls. We could check it out if you wanted to?"

Pietro's eyes lit up, "I'd love to go ice skating. I haven't been since I was a kid."

Clint nodded with a smile, he knew what that meant. If the last time he went skating was when he was a kid then it was tied to a bunch of bad memories Pietro was probably trying to forget. Clint wanted to turn those memories into good ones, ones where Pietro could look back on them with a soft fondness.